ansible-ops

name	ansible-ops
description	Ansible playbook management covering inventory, vault, syntax checks, and idempotency. Use when writing or running Ansible playbooks, configuring servers or deploying services, or managing secrets with Ansible Vault.
license	MIT

Ansible Ops

Manage infrastructure using Ansible playbooks and roles.

When to Use

Config & app deployment onto hosts that already exist — playbooks, roles, vault. The sibling for provisioning the infrastructure itself (creating hosts, networks, managed services + their state) is terraform-expert: declare the box with Terraform, configure what runs on it with Ansible. Don't reach here to stand up infrastructure.

Conventions

• Inventory: Always explicitly specify the inventory file with -i.
• Vault Safety: Never run commands requiring interactive password entry (--ask-vault-pass). Generate the command for the user to run instead.
• Syntax First: Run ansible-lint or ansible-playbook --syntax-check before presenting a playbook.
• Timeout: Prefix playbook runs with timeout 300s to prevent hangs.
• Idempotency: Every playbook must be safe to re-run. Use creates:, when:, and handler-based restarts.

Anti-Patterns

• Running playbooks without --syntax-check first — catch errors before execution
• Interactive password prompts (--ask-vault-pass) — generate commands for the user
• Non-idempotent tasks — every playbook must be safe to re-run